San Francisco vindicator., 1887-05-16
DEATH ON THE GARROTE.
A DREADFUL PICTURE OF CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT IN SPAIN.

Al DREADFUL PICTURE Vt
PUNISHMENT IN SPAIN.
How a Holiday Is Celebrated in the
Land of the Olive-The Trepidation
with which . Criminal Met His
Doom.
suddenly the crowd halts and great
e;lance falls. al close carriage, Win
blinds down, escorted by a picket OF civl
rnards. slowly passes through the press
we can follow it without hurrylng our
selves ,,+io,,
In little while the place OF execution
apUears before me, thronged with mul-
titude swaying like tide, and up from
the sea Of heads emerges the wnite Hias'
of the scaffold.
/ approach. o,v
Lying upon stool, covered with q snow
white cloth, is the garrote ltselI-snlI
merinr like q crown of steel. In q Htlie
while fhe executioner will attach it to
nf,st against which the criminal is 10 DC
fastened. The final preparations con-
sumed considerable time, SO thai was
well able to make leisurely eXamlnatlon
of the sinister locality whittier curiosity
had drawn me for the purpose OF studying
the physiognomy of the great pushing OF
soneez;nr crowd. As always, and in all
nlaces. the women were the most numer-
Gus.
Now there is great movement around
the scaffold The soldiers close tneir
ranks and three men approach tne seal
fold. One of them ascends it. lt IS the
executioner. He is thin, low sized anu
looks about 40 years old. Wmle Waltiiie
for his victim he keeps walking nervously
to and fro with his hands behind ms Dack
and his head down. From time 10 ell,lo Le
he stops and looks at the argolla Whe
ssparrote,9 with q suspicious expression
of countenance Perhaps he Is AFRAID OF
the power Of resistance possessed by the
ceryical vertebra of Alvarez, and Is tnere-
fore afraid Of losing his bounty.
THE DISMAL sCAFFoLD.
Noisy as it was little while ago, the
crowd now suddenly becomes Silent.
Some women are turning pale; and one
can feel that nervous excitement weighs
unon the crowd. A low rumbllng
heard Tt Is the black carriage that bears
the condemned man. 1t stops at the 100
of the scaffold: and the criminal Is sooI
nainfully climbing the twelve high steps
of the dismal scaffold, leaning on the arm
of a priest. Another priest precedes MIN
lifting very high an immense crucinX
toward which the condemned man strlSe
To turn his terror stricken face Aware.
Olivia is not yet % years old; ana IL wa
believed that the savage energy ne na'
disnlayed in committing his crime, 70
gather with his vigorous youth, woul
give him strength to face death. Bu
nothing of the kind is now shown by him
and really it was too much to expect OF
man who knew his fate forty-eight hour
aro and who, while listening to the II
neral chants in the prison chapel, mus
have beheld all kinds Of hideous vislor
passing before him.
This rule Of Obliging the condemned
listen during the two nights preceding
execution to an interminable series
PRAYERS. requiems, De Profundis chant
uttered for the repose OF his soul by d
fellow criminals, seems to me sometnlI
atrocious; and / can see in it the La
yestige of the ferocious medieval mys
cism OF Spain, with all its unconsclo
cruelty AS stood on an elevation owe
looking the scaffold, was able TO ooser
faL alsL aba etsttilf ilfrnsetf up b the executfone
The latter sat down at the foot OF t
post. with his back to it and then tied h
hands and feet hard and fast. He did {
this without It'll ih,lYftg ING 0fgnifed indffferent
ary in the discharge of his duty. If Il
preparations had lasted even few secont
longer I believe I should have lost n
own self control. / could hear my hea
humping in my breast, and every m
ment or two something like q veil can
before my eyes.
THE IRON COLLAR.
You could not even hear whisper
the crowd. While one of the prizes
pressed crucifix to the colorless lips
the sufferer, another was murmuriI
words Of consolation and hope into b
ear. But the wretched man was nj
listening. His expressionless face had
waxen pallor, and his eyes, as they wal
dered over the ocean of faces before hin
already seemed dim with the dullness
death.
He started considerably when the ex
cutioner placed the iron collar about h
neck, and observed his mouth contrac
Thep, however, q white covering throw
over bis features hid them from furth.
observation. The eSecutioner then ga,
two or three turns of the screws connec
ed with the instrument of death. TT
bones Of the neck cracked, long tren
bling ran through the whole body, Il
arms twisted outward, the legs inwar,
Alvarez Olivia was dead.
The priests took off their square caps,
if to salute the soul passing by, and Il
executioner concealed the covering thi
concealed the dead mans face That fac
which had been SO pallid moment befor
was now purple. The tumified tongl
protruded from the mouth and the blood
eyes had spurted out of their sockets. I'll
head had fallen slightly toward the rigl
shoulder, and the black miter, with whi
cross, that had been placed upon it, SCENE
about to tall off.
The crowd ebbed away silently, ey
IDENTIFY much affected, while two gel
darmes with rifles mounted guard at Il
foot OF the scaffold, where the corpse w,
to remain until evening" when the corp
ration of female mourners would escort
to the cemetery of executed criminal
with long, piercing cries Of lamentatiol
like the Yul yui yu! of Arab women
New York Star.
Not to BE Trusted.
An old New York dry goods auctiC
merchant, who resided in Jersey, crosse